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ID #115497 |
Amazon's Price: $ 7.50
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Summary of this Book... | ||
As borrowed from Amazon: L.A. Confidential is epic noir, a crime novel of astonishing detail and scope written by the bestselling author of The Black Dahlia. A horrific mass murder invades the lives of victims and victimizers on both sides of the law. And three lawmen are caught in a deadly spiral, a nightmare that tests loyalty and courage, and offers no mercy, grants no survivors. | ||
This type of Book is good for... | ||
Fans of noir, crime, and drama, and the author himself. | ||
I especially liked... | ||
The writer's ability to weave in real-life events into the plot line, which does more to move the story forward than stagnate it. The plot, itself, was quite intriguing, and all the twists and turns, leave you wanting to know. And if you watched the movie first, you are left pleasantly surprised at just how different it is. Sure the basic theme is captured in the film, but the book (as expected) is fleshed out and given a depth that is almost satisfactory. | ||
I didn't like... | ||
I did say 'almost satisfactory' above, didn't I? That's because a major headache I had with the story was actually the writer's style. I can understand the need to match the lingo and almost frenetic style of speaking during that era, but while reading, it appears that he favors short phrases a lot. What this does is creates situations where you are sometimes lost on who is reacting to what situation, who is speaking, or where the heck you really are in the plot. It can get quite frustrating, and it requires two or more reads of a certain section to fully grasp what's going on. | ||
When I finished reading this Book I wanted to... | ||
Almost pick up the rest of the books in his L.A. Quartet series. Unfortunately, when I remember how somewhat tedious it was to get through one book, I gave up. | ||
This Book made me feel... | ||
Like I was, actually, in the thick of things at some point. Watching the movie first, sort of, spoiled me a bit. However, I was still pleasantly surprised at how different it truly was. There were very key characters, in the book, that were not in the movie....and just many other plot lines within the book that could not make the film. Understandably. Hmm...maybe they could remake this into a series, especially with all these streaming services we have today. | ||
The author of this Book... | ||
James Ellroy - James Ellroy was born in Los Angeles in 1948. He is the author of the acclaimed L.A. Qurtet - The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, LA Confidential and White Jazz, as well as the Underworld USA trilogy: American Tabloid, The Cold Six Thousand and Blood's a Rover. He is the author of one work of non-fiction, The Hilliker Curse: My Pursuit of Women. Ellroy lives in Los Angeles. (Borrowed from Amazon). Yet, reading up about James' life story is quite fascinating. The man lived through that era, and according to reports, his father was a prime suspect in the infamous The Black Dahlia case. Also, he was a product of domestic abuse; having to watch his mother go through some of the things a character in this book, Bud White, experienced. In fact, it's believed that the characters of Bud White and Ed Exeley are a sort of combination of James Ellroy himself. | ||
I recommend this Book because... | ||
For all the positives aforementioned, and I'll probably talk about it some more below | ||
I don't recommend this Book because... | ||
For all the negatives aforementioned, and some I'll probably talk about below. | ||
Further Comments... | ||
So, without spoiling too much for you, I'll try to speak on a little more about what I found great (or not so great) about the book. 1. Characters - as mentioned, unlike the movie, the three main protagonists are definitely fleshed out in the novel. Each of them, even the 'good' Exeley, all have flaws that make them incredibly human. The most astonishing difference from the film is the character of Jack Vincennes. While he comes across as a, sort of, one-dimensional sleazy cop (who does have a redemption arc in the end), in the book, there is more depth to his actions, that by the time you get to the end of the book, you're actually cheering (and crying probably) for his arc. For Ed Exeley, the film was just about faithful to his arc, but there is a very big difference in his entire plot in the book! So many missing characters or story lines that relate to him were omitted in the movie, but no one can deny his smarts and opportunistic nature. He might not be a brute, physically, but he can be just as ruthless and unforgiving to get the results he desires. And gosh, the decision he had to make in the end was tough, but showed that he had finally 'grown-up' all things considered. Last but not least is Bud White, the typical 'brute', who settles most matters with his fist and short temper. Bud is a 'reactive' character who acts first and then sits down to think things later. We can understand his intense feelings of distrust towards domestic abusers, but there are other things in the story that make us not really root for him. I don't want to say that Ellroy tried to make him somewhat of a hero, but methinks anti-hero is a better term. P.S: I would be remiss, if I did not mention that Ellroy takes jabs at some famous personalities in that era, especially a very famous man responsible for a certain popular amusement park based off his famous characters. You almost have to chuckle at it, if the story surrounding him wasn't incredibly dark and depressing as all heck. 2. Language - This was the 1950s. This was a tense time between the races in culturally diverse place as L.A. And of course, we are dealing with the LAPD at a time when their reputation was anything but glorious. So, as expected of the time, this book is filled with language that is - today - considered a no-no in popular culture. You are bombarded with slurs in every other line or dealing with racial prejudice and attitude in every other chapter. Heck, the story starts with the infamous Bloody Christmas of 1951  event (which still makes my stomach sick just thinking about it) and goes on until 1958/59. So, if you're sensitive to such language and attitudes, then this book is definitely not for you.3. I appreciated the author's use of newspaper clippings/headlines/police reports to fast forward certain events. So, instead of us drowning in unnecessary scenes, the use of those techniques help to tell a story in just a few words. 4. Romance - now while the film's Kim Basinger, stole the show, in the book there are several women who take the spotlight, with the most important one being a woman of Mexican descent (shocking, eh?). However, for all of Ellroy's attention to details regarding the crime/police/politics aspect of the story, the romantic scenes almost came off...'stiff' (no pun intended). Not that I expected flowery stuff, and I realize that it should be in the periphery all things considered, still, there was a disconnect in some way. I can't quite place my finger on it. I almost felt as if the relationships were not necessary, and yet they were (in more ways than one. Hah!) To round this up, it was an interesting story; boosted by the movie. I did fall in love with the characters (some of them at least), and appreciated Ellroy's attention to details. It's also a relatively fast read (if you don't count going back and forth several times to truly understand certain scenes), and can be finished in one (or two) sittings. P.S: To be honest, I wouldn't mind if this was turned into a T.V. series, with a producer/director/writers/actors who will be completely faithful to the book. Buuuuuut, methinks with the way everything and everyone is so sensitive these days, it might either end up being watered down or not made at all.  | ||
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Created Sep 19, 2024 at 4:05am •
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